TUC report suggests workers' rights 'at risk' after Brexit

05 May 2017

A new report published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned that employees in the UK and the EU are ‘at risk from the erosion of workplace rights after Brexit’.

The report reviewed the relationship between labour standards and foreign direct investment, and analysed the potential consequences for individuals working in Britain and the EU following the UK’s departure from the Union.

Better labour standards help to attract foreign investment, the report revealed. It also suggested that there is a real risk of a ‘race to the bottom’ for low-pay and low-productivity sectors if countries seek to compete by restricting workers’ protections.  

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, called for workplace rights to be protected in a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. She said: ‘If we don’t put strong protections for working people at the heart of our deal with the EU, Britain could become a bargain basement economy.

‘The next government must get a deal with Europe that protects current rights, like paid holidays, equal pay and fairness for agency workers. And it must guarantee a level playing field with the rest of Europe now and in the future, so working people in Britain don’t fall behind our European neighbours.’